


I Pledge You, My Bear

by Fire_Bear



Series: Bear of my Heart [7]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 15:29:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3574649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is nervous at his wedding - but he really needn't be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Pledge You, My Bear

In a small room just off the nave of the grand church, Arthur fidgeted with his cufflinks. They were new, never worn, bought by Alfred as a birthday present months ago. He had complained when Arthur had refused to wear them but the Brit had been adamant that he wanted to wear them to the wedding. They were matching teddy bears, both a shiny brown, and Arthur had loved them from the moment he opened the box.

What was taking them so long? Surely Alfred should be here by now? God, what if something had happened?

No, nothing had happened he assured himself. Nervously, he smoothed down his blue tie. His father had loaned it to him; apparently, he had worn it when he had married Arthur's mother and _his_ father had worn it when he had married. It seemed to be a family tradition. After all, his father had told him when he handed it over, who says it's only a bride who has to be wearing something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.

What if Alfred had cold feet? Arthur knew it wouldn't be because he didn't love him, rather the fact that he would be tied down, unable to get rid of Arthur if something awful happened. Or was this just a thought that Arthur had? Was _he_ the one getting cold feet?

He rose from the chair, pacing around the small room. His palms were sweating. Quickly, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them on it. He ran a hand through his hair before catching himself in the mirror. Cursing, he tried to fix what he had messed up then mentally apologised in God's general direction for swearing.

Finally, the door opened and Arthur spun to stare at his father in anticipation for some sort of explanation. Was it bad news? Oh, Lord, it was going to be bad news!

His panic must have been clear for his father smiled at him encouragingly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, son. Alfred was just a bit late."

Arthur let out a long breath. "Typical. When I told him he'd be late to his own wedding, it was only a joke. He didn't have to take me seriously."

Grinning, his father nodded. "Funny – he said you would say something like that."

With a bark of laughter, Arthur shook his head. "I can't believe he made me wait."

"Yes, well. He's here now so..."

"Right," said Arthur and took a deep breath. He stepped forward but his father stopped him.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" he asked, levelling Arthur with his no-nonsense stare. "If you have any doubts at all, it's not too late to call it off. Your mother did that once."

"Eh?" Arthur blinked, his jaw dropping. "She did what?"

His dad laughed. "We were young and in love – rather like you two. When she was twenty-one and I was twenty-three, I asked her to marry me. We planned for six months and managed to get squeezed into her dream venue. After all that money, all that time, she entered the church – looking stunning, I must say. She got halfway up the aisle before halting, told everyone she couldn't go through with it and ran back to the room she had been waiting in. When I went to talk to her, she said that she was still in university and wanted to study and she wasn't sure what her future held. She was scared that something would go wrong. So we agreed to wait and, two years later, we were married.

"I know that you are older than her but you only just got a teaching post. You've been stressed this past year, organising the wedding and lessons and tests. I don't want you to do something you think you _have_ to do because you're in love. I want you to do this because you _want_ to."

"Dad," said Arthur, smiling happily. "I want this, I really do. Being stressed this year is just going to make married life more rewarding, don't you think. And, really, I already have a foothold in my career. I want to get married today."

"If you're sure."

"Yeah... Thank you."

Nodding, his dad smiled. "Good. Now stop worrying. Kiku will be here soon to tell us when to go."

* * *

It was another fifteen minutes before Kiku knocked gently on the door and entered. He smiled at Arthur and inclined his head – his Japanese etiquette was still deeply ingrained. Arthur found it sweet and admired Kiku for keeping his traditions alive. The Man of Honour (as Alfred had been calling him, despite Arthur's protests) was wearing a navy suit which was meant to differentiate from Arthur's ebony one.

"We are ready now, Arthur-kun," he said and held the door open for him. Arthur practically ran from the room before waiting for the other two men to catch up. His dad placed a hand on his shoulder as if to steady him which Arthur was grateful for: he didn't want to walk up the aisle holding his father's elbow or hand so this was a nice compromise.

Kiku stepped in front of them and opened the door slightly. He whispered, "Now," to someone and there was a shuffling beyond the door. Eventually, Arthur heard the first notes of the song they had chosen. It was called Faith of the Heart and had been used as the theme to the Star Trek: Enterprise TV programme, the supposed prequel to the original series. The song was beautiful and, though Arthur had objected to it, he realised that it fit quite well. So, as Russell Watson crooned from the speakers installed in the church, Kiku opened the door properly and led the small procession into the congregation proper.

Arthur almost stumbled when he spotted the reason why it had taken so long for Kiku to collect him. When they had been organising the venue, Arthur had insisted on keeping it simple. White roses in vases, perhaps some origami. He had made sure the flowers were in place earlier before retreating to get ready. However, his vague instruction about the origami had been taken advantage of and Alfred had gone all out.

Hanging above the left side of the church were several paper chains. Teddy bear paper chains. It was ridiculous but beautiful, especially with each teddy alternating with green and blue eyes. Small origami teddy bears were stuck to the walls and the end of the pews, some even declaring which row was for whom. On the altar, behind the reverend, sat all of Arthur's most precious teddies, their arms reaching for him.

On the right side, however, Alfred had decorated for himself. There were paper chains of what appeared to be XBox controllers and flying superheroes, colours alternating between blue and green. On this side, different science fiction objects and aliens were the subject of the origami. Somehow, it all seemed elegant.

His wide eyes roved over Gilbert, standing tall and grinning at Arthur. He winked before sticking his hands in the pockets of his charcoal trousers. Then his eyes passed the best man and locked onto Alfred.

The American was wearing a royal blue suit which made his eyes sparkle all the brighter. His tie matched his eyes, though, drawing Arthur's attention to the two areas of his body he loved the most. Alfred had his customary grin in place. A movement forced Arthur to glance at Alfred's twitching hands; either he was nervous or desperate to touch him. So he smiled back, rather shyly, not expecting all of the love that seemed to permeate the room. Though, considering the day, he supposed he should have expected it.

It seemed to take a while to get to his groom, the moment seeming to hang. Arthur instantly knew that he would remember – and treasure – this forever.

Ultimately, it ended and he found himself in front of everyone, Alfred beside him. The reverend turned to Arthur's father to ask him to declare that he was giving him away – something Arthur had been against doing but had agreed to on the promise of picking the music for the first dance – and Alfred held back on reaching out for Arthur. Instead, he fiddled with his own cufflinks, ones shaped like the badges from Star Trek. Arthur had bought them for him, for this day. He was glad that Alfred had remembered them.

Then Arthur felt his father squeeze his shoulder and let go. Almost immediately, Alfred grabbed at Arthur's hand. Arthur squeezed his in reassurance. They were here, they had made it, managed to walk down the long road and reach their coveted destination.

"Hey," Alfred whispered.

"Hey," Arthur replied.

They smiled at each other and turned to the minister. The man smiled at them and began his speech. "We are gathered here today..."

Arthur tuned him out. The next thing he had to do was going to be the most nerve-racking. They had both written their own vows but Arthur was terrified he would forget it. In fact, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what he had written down. And it was getting closer to the point when he _needed_ to remember. They had rehearsed the day before, how could he forget now?

The two of them turned to each other as the reverend urged Alfred to say his vows. The poor, beautiful man opened his mouth, closed it and then stared at Arthur in a panic. His own eyes wide, Arthur tried to tell him just to say anything, he didn't mind, Alfred wasn't the only one forgetting his vows, don't panic.

It seemed that the message was received as Alfred grinned and pulled Arthur a little closer. "Arthur. You have always been special to me and you always will be. I promise you that I will never walk away from you. I promise that I will clean up after myself" - Arthur snorted at this even as his vision went blurry, his heart doing funny things in his chest - "and that I will try not to moan about doing it. I promise to be there in the good and the bad and the worse. I promise to never let you go and to protect you from everything that life will throw at you. I'll fight them off with phasers and light sabers" - there was a chuckle from their audience - "and I will never let you go."

With Alfred finished, grinning at Arthur, the reverend turned to the teacher. His heart was clenching in a good way: Alfred's vows had been so achingly perfect. He was going to cry, he could feel it. So, to try and resist the pull of his happy tears, he began to say things off the top of his head.

"Alfred. You have always been dear to me – even before you gave me that teddy bear." He glanced at the one in question as Alfred and their parents chuckled. "I promise you that I will not leave you. I promise you that I will not let you do all the protecting in this relationship. I will protect you as much as you protect me. Perhaps not with phasers and light sabers but with love – which, incidentally, is the most powerful form of magic." This provoked more chuckling from those present. However, Alfred didn't laugh this time – he only smiled widely, his eyes watering. Borrowing something from Alfred's speech, he continued on, determined to finish before they both started crying. "I promise I will be there in the good and the bad and the worse. And I promise to avoid cooking complicated things." Alfred snorted at that, shaking his head as his grin grew.

They looked to the reverend who nodded at them and Kiku and Gilbert moved forward, presenting their rings. Alfred took one first and grabbed Arthur's hand eagerly, slipping it on as he murmured, "I love you." Arthur returned the gesture, repeating his words.

And, finally, the reverend shut his Bible, smiling happily. "I now pronounce you partners for life."

A cheer rattled the eaves and echoed in the belfry. Alfred grinned at Arthur, grabbed him round the waist and tugged him forward till he was pressed against his new husband. Arthur could only laugh as Alfred dipped him and planted a kiss on his lips. When he was finally righted, the congregation was applauding.

All he could do was grin as widely as Alfred.

* * *

Of course, Alfred hadn't just stopped at decorating the church without Arthur's knowledge. The hotel they were using for their reception was decorated in interlocking paper chains, their interests tangled together. Kiku had even made other pretty origami figures to be hung up: cranes and roosters and dolphins and their favourite characters. It was all beautiful and fitting and Arthur adored it.

They had an excellent meal, presided over by Arthur's co-worker, Francis. It was delicious and Arthur told him so – something he never normally did. But he was happy and didn't want to mar memories of this day.

Gilbert and Kiku delivered their speeches. Typically, Gilbert made fun of Alfred and had everyone laughing. Meanwhile, Kiku sang their praises with the odd anecdote. Their parents made speeches and, finally, the band took to the stage. People turned to watch as Alfred held out his hand for Arthur and, after rolling his eyes, Arthur allowed Alfred to tug him to his feet and lead him to the dance floor.

The guy at the keyboard started the familiar noises which Alfred frowned at, confused, obviously vaguely recognising it but thrown by the slower tempo. Arthur grinned and tugged Alfred into position. Then the singer started and Alfred blinked as he realised what it was. Thankfully, he wasn't shocked for long as he gathered Arthur in his arms and pulled him tighter, spinning and swaying.

"Isn't this-?"

"Yeah," said Arthur, quietly, a faint blush creeping up his cheeks. "It's... Well, it's our song now, isn't it?"

"I think I prefer the original," Alfred noted.

"Hm, yes, Queen did it better."

"Do I need to tell you that I was born to love you?" asked Alfred as he rested his forehead against Arthur's and gazed into his eyes.

Arthur chuckled. "No, I think I got the message the first time. Though I still wish you hadn't done it in the street."

"I was going for that scene. Y'know, from that film."

"Oh, hush," sighed Arthur.

"Sure," replied Alfred and promptly kissed Arthur. It was chaste, though, and he pulled back before Arthur could complain. "You're stuck with me now, though, honey."

With quiet huff of laughter, Arthur grinned. "My one and only teddy bear, hm?"

"Exactly."

**Author's Note:**

> The deal with the first song and the cufflinks: When my cousin got married, she walked down the aisle to this song. It was pretty damn awesome - geeky and slowly romantic and appropriate lyrics. ("It's been a long road, getting from there to here. Been a long road but I'm glad we're finally here.) Her groom (now husband) had TARDIS cufflinks. It was the coolest, geekiest wedding I've ever been to (and I've been to two, including that one). I decided to give them awesome cufflinks. (You can totally get teddy bear and Star Trek badges cufflinks. I looked it up and was pleased.)
> 
> And the song they're dancing to is "I Was Born to Love You" by Queen. Alfred used that to confess to Arthur.


End file.
